US Senator Elizabeth Warren said Sunday that Massachusetts elected officials critical of President-elect Trump cannot afford to remain silent over his threat to conduct mass deportations and other proposed policies, despite concerns that the incoming administration could retaliate against the state.
Elected officials must speak up when they have concerns about Trump and his policies, Warren said during an interview on WCVB-TV’s “On The Record” program. She also touched on President Joe Biden’s pardon for his son and whether Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson should resign in the wake of her arrest Friday.
She made these comments as some local officials have expressed anxiety that Massachusetts could see far less federal assistance than under past administrations, with Trump returning to the White House next month and Republican majorities to take over in both chambers of Congress. Massachusetts was one of the few states where a majority of voters didn’t support Trump’s re-election in November, and many local politicians publicly supported his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
“We cannot start out by rolling over and playing dead in the hopes that if we do that, Donald Trump and his team will leave us alone,” said Warren. “Look, our job is to speak up.”
Warren signaled there is concern the incoming Trump administration will try to claw back federal funds allocated to replacing the Sagamore bridge on Cape Cod. Officials are trying to ensure the money is secure before Trump returns to office, according to Warren.
“With any other administration on God’s green earth, of course it would be guaranteed. It’s already been allocated and so on. What we are working feverishly to do is to literally lock the doors and windows so there is no way to pull that money,” Warren said.
The state had been working to obtain federal funding to help replace the Bourne bridge, but Warren did not sound optimistic about securing those funds.
“That’s going to be harder right now,” Warren said.
Trump has also pledged to deport millions of people across the country and has been rebuked by many of the state’s elected leaders including Warren, Governor Maura Healey, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Healey and Wu have said State Police and Boston police would not assist in mass deportations, while Boston and several other communities have declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented people residing in those places.
In the interview Sunday, Warren pushed back when WCVB reporter Sharman Sacchetti asked Warren whether she was concerned that those statements put “Massachusetts in the crosshairs” of the incoming Trump White House.
“It is a question that reflects [that] reality, but that is a reality we cannot give into,” Warren said. “It is a reality that says, ‘You want me to start censoring myself on everything I say, if I think the Trump administration is wrong?’ We can’t do that.”
As an example, Warren reiterated her criticism of Trump’s choice for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, an Army National Guard major and combat veteran, who has faced allegations of excessive drinking and sexual assault. Hegseth, who is also a former Fox News host, has been criticized for saying women “straight up” should not serve in combat roles.
“Do you think I shouldn’t speak out on Hegseth just because Donald Trump nominated him?” Warren said.
Warren did not call for the resignation of Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who was arrested and charged Friday in federal court after prosecutors said she took $7,000 as part of a kickback scheme.
Those allegations against Anderson undermine public confidence in elected officials, said Warren, who expressed uncertainty that she could continue as a city councilor.
“It certainly casts a pall, and it certainly raises a question of whether she can effectively do her job,” Warren said.
Warren said she opposed Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden. She did support a blanket pardon for Justice department officials who investigated Trump, including ones who looked into his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
“When Donald Trump has openly said that he intends to use the FBI and the Justice Department, to attack his political enemies who were just doing their jobs in the Justice Department and trying to enforce the law, that’s a time when blanket pardon should be on the table,” Warren said.
Material from prior Globe coverage and the Associated Press was used in this report.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.
